WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979) & WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (1993) (Second Sight Blu-ray Review)

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979) & WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (1993) 

Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: 
Audio: English PCM 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Fred Walton
Cast: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Rutanya Alda, Charles Durning, Tony Beckley

The original When A Stranger Calls (1970) is one of those urban legend-based films that I think every horror fan of a certain age grew up with, I certainly did, having watched in in my early teens, right around the time I started babysitting a pair of annoying kids for a friend of the family, everytime the phone would ring my heart would stop, it was always n my mind. I didn't end up babysitting the kids for very long, which turned out to be a good thing, a few weeks after I stopped watching them they burned their house down  while their granny was watching them, apparently they were playing with matches while grandma was asleep. 

The film opnes with highschool teen Jill Johnson (Carol Kane, Scrooged) babysitting the young children of Dr. Mandrakis (Carmen Argenziano, Graduation Day) and his wife (Rutanya Alda, Girls Nite Out). She finds herself alone in the house while the children are asleep upstairs, and while doing her homework begins receiving phone calls from a creepy voiced man who inquiring "have you checked on the children?". These calls goes on for a good while throughout the night, finally unnerved she rings the police who say they will trace the calls,  calling back a short while later and telling her that the calls are coming from inside the same house as her! She runs for the door just as the police arrive, and it turns out that the kids have been dead for hours, murdered by a disturbed man named Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley, The Fiend) who made his way into the home earlier in the night at some point. 

Forward seven years later and Jill is now married with a pair of her own children, unaware that lunatic Duncan escaped from the asylum he was sent to years earlier. But former cop turned private eye John Clifford (Charles Durning, The Dark Night of the Scarecrow) who worked the original case is now on the trail of the escaped lunatic. This middle third of the film is slow-burning with Durning tracking the homicidal loony through the city, the film had such an electrifying and genuinely creepy opening 20-min that this part of the film slows it down considerably, it's not ruinous but I always find it a bit of a slog.

While I find that it's slowed down I do enjoy the cast here, Beckley is very good as the disturbed man, in fact he portrays the character in such a pathetic sort way that you kind of feel bad for him, he gives the character some humanity. Though you never doubt that he's a madman, just barely able to contain his homicidal madness, at one point following a woman named Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst, The Dead Zone) home from a bar where he's just received a beat down from the bar patrons after harassing her. He manages to creep his way into her home, and she just barely manages to get him out, not realizing what a threat he posed until Durning turns up on her doorstep the next day and lays it out for her, Dewhurst turns in a fine performance as a woman past her prime, lonely, but not that lonely. 

Things do pick up in the final third with Duncan inexecplaiably tracking down Jill to a restaurant where she is dining with her husband while her kids are home with a babysitter. He calls her at the restaurant and sending chills down her spine with the familiar phrase "have you checked on the kids", leading to a wonderfully suspenseful finale that nearly lives up to the first 20-min of the film. The film drags a bit in the middle but the beginning and end are fantastic, making this slice of suspense a classic thriller with some real nail-biting moments.  

The cast is great, the lensing is solid, the score is creepy, and it's well directed by Fred Walton, who also directed the maligned but awesome 80's slasher April Fools Day (1986), which is also sorely in need of a proper Blu-ray release.

Second Sight have also included the direct-to-cable TV sequel to the film, When A Stranger Calls Back (1993), which reunited director Walton with stars Durning and Cane who reprise their roles, adding a new babysitter to the mix by way of teen Julie (Jill Schoelen, Popcorn) who while babysitting a pair of kids receives a knock at the door from a man who says his car broke down nearby, it plays out much the same way as the first film, with the same results for the poor kids, and moving forward five years when Julie is a student at a local college, still traumatized by her experience years earlier, and now with someone stalking her. Enter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) who is now a counselor at the same college as Julie, who calls in Durning's character to assist with the case. This was my first time watch of the sequel, for a direct-to-cable TV sequel is was well-done, mirroring the original but adding some new twists and turn, very glad second Sight saw fit to include it on this set. 

Audio/Video: When A Stranger Calls (1979) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Second Sight Films presented in 1080p HD, framed in 1.85:1, looking very filmic. The new scan of the film elements showcases plenty of natural looking grain that hasn't been DNR scrubbed or tinkered with unduly. The colors are solid and saturated, blacks are deep and shadowy,  and we get some modest fine detail in facial close-ups and with clothing textures throughout. When A Stranger Calls Back (1992) is presented in the original full frame aspect ratio in 1080p HD, audio is 2.0 PCM with optional English subtitles. 

Audio comes by way of an PCM Mono track that is clean and well-balanced, the creepy score from Dana Kaproff (Empire of the Ants) springs to life nicely in the mix with nice depth and fidelity. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Extras on the disc include new interviews with director Fred Walton, actors Carol Kane and Rutanya Alda, and composer Dana Kaproff, plus the original 22-min film that inspired the film. 

We were only sent a "check disc" for the purpose of this review so I have no comment on packaging, booklet or the soundtrack CD that accompanies retail version of the release. 

Special Features: 
- The Sitter - Short Film (22 min) HD 
- The sequel ‘When a Stranger Calls Back' HD
- New int. with director Fred Walton (17 min)
- New Int. with actor Carol Kane (17 min) 
- New int. with actor Rutanya Alda (5 min) 
- New int. with composer Dana Kaproff (8 min) 

Limited Edition Contents:
- CD Soundtrack
- 40-page perfect bound booklet with new essay by Kevin Lyons
- Reversible poster with new and original artwork
- Rigid slipcase packaging

When A Stranger Calls (1979) gets a first-rate presentation from Second Sight Films, who were also kind enough to include the cable TV produced sequel, plus a handful of quality extras. Fans of suspenseful thrillers and creepy home invader films should absolutely dig into this nail-biting double-feature.   

DVD Review: OFFICE KILLER (1997)

OFFICE KILLER (1997) 

Label: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

Region: 1 NTSC

Rating: R

Duration: 83 Mins

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (No Subtitles) 

Video: 16:9 Widescreen

Director:  Cindy Sherman

Cast: Carol Kane, Molly Ringwald, Jeanne Tripplehorn

Tagline: Working Here Can Be Murder


Synopsis: Dorine (Kane) is a quiet and diligent social outcast who has endured years of abuse as the office doormat. When the magazine she works for takes a dive, Dorine hangs on through the downsizing and drastic changes. But one night, the mild-mannered paper-pusher accidentally electrocutes an obnoxious co-worker, and in the process, completely short-circuits her sanity. From that moment on, Dorine believes that anyone can be her best friend…once they're dead.


This was a film I caught on IFC some years ago no doubt drawn in by the appearance of my one true 80's crush - Molly Ringwald - whom one could quite easily argue I spanked it too on way too many occasions in my adolescence - total crush - it's embarrassing.


In the indie slasher Office Killer (1997) we're introduced to the staff at the Constant Consumer magazine. A small time publisher suffering through a period of budget cuts and restructuring - you know - corporate downsizing. This was 1997 so these poor bastards aren't even aware of just how bad things would become for print media in the very near future. Dorine (Carol Kane, When a Stranger Calls) is a mousy proof reader on staff who gets demoted to working part-time from home at the start of the film. She's a tightly wound bundle of nerves, one of those wallflowers that's a bit too quiet. She lives at home with her invalid mother Carlotta (Alice Drummond, the librarian from Ghostbusters!) and her cats. I first suspected  there might be more to her than just being awkward during an early scene when a cats brings to her a dead mouse and she throws it down the garage disposal, that's just disgusting, normal folks just don't do that.


Also on staff at the magazine are ax-woman Norah (Jeanne Tripplehorn, TV's Big Love), the bitchy Kim (Molly Ringwald, Breakfast Club), the chain-smoking asthmatic Virginia (Barbara Sukowa, M Butterfly), tech-guy Daniel (Michael Imperioli, TV's The Sopranos) and douche-nozzle staff writer Garry (David Thornton, TV's Law and Order).


Just after getting the news she's been demoted Dorine finds herself working late in the office when the womanizing douchebag Gary calls her into the office to fix his computer but he is accidentally electrocuted when Dorine resets the tripped circuit breakers while he's messing with some wiring. At first Dorine attempts to do the right thing by calling 911 but instead chooses to take him home where she props him up on a couch in the basement. This accidental death spurs Dorine to set off on a bloody office murder spree taking out her co-workers one at a time all the while sending emails from her new laptop at home that would seem to indicate odd but somewhat logical reasons why the staff are dissappearing. Amidst these killings we're treated to flashbacks from Dorine's childhood and a strange relationship with her father (Eric Bogosian, Talk Radio) which give us insight into her quirks and murderous impulses.


As the body count climbs Dorine's basement quickly nears capacity with cadavers, the spree is not limited to co-workers either and the bodycount includes two young  girlscouts whom show up on her doorstep one day selling cookies. Dorine spends her time amidst the decomposing bodies talking to her new found friends while her cats eat at them, she tends ttheir feline woulds with packing tape and Windex. The only one to suspect Dorine is a psychotic killer is the pushy Kim (Ringwald) but her warnings fall on deaf ears and to the detriment of the non-believers. 

The film has a decent body count but it is most certainly not a blood bath in anyway, it's pretty tame in the gore department. What we do get an electrocution, poisoning, a throat slashed with a cuisinart blade, attempted stranglation, a tire iron to the skull, stabbings and several offscreen deaths of undetermined nature.


Verdict: This film is an odd, quirky late-90's indie slasher that's pretty entertaining. 1997 was not a great year for memorable horror films - we had Uncle Sam, Mimic, Event Horizon and an obscure little film Bleeders - that's really about it and I would be quite pleased to hear this film mentioned a bit more when 90's horror is talked about. Sure, it's not gonna make anyone's top 10 list but it is an entertaining office slasher that deserves a space on your shelf somewhere between Office Space and Corporate Cutthroat Massacre, fun stuff. 2.5 Outta 5